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ARCHIVE OF BRITISH SAINTS (A-B)Saint Alphege (Aelfheah) (954-1012), fd: 19 April The saint's early life is obscure, but it is known that he was a monk at Deerhurst and was later a hermit at Bath where he attracted a large following and was elected as Abbot. It is known that he was a friend of St. Dunstan and through his influence, Alphege became bishop of Winchester in 984. In 1006 he succeeded Aelfric as Archbishop of Canterbury. During the sack of Canterbury by the Danes in 1011, Alphege was captured and held for ransom for seven months. When he refused to pay the sum of his ransom, the Danes stoned him to death at Greenwich where he was being held. His first resting place was n St. Paul's, London, but in 1023 he was removed in great splendour to Canterbury. From the earliest years after his death he was venerated as a martyr.
St. Brendan the Navigator, (575), fd:16 May
It is believed that Brendan spent his formative years in the care of St. Ita in the Community of Limerick and was educated by St. Erc, Bishop of Kerry. During his life he visited St. Columba in Scotland and St. Malo in Brittany. It is known that Brendan lived and worked mainly in Western Ireland where he founded the Clonfert Monastery of which he was Abbot in c. 559 AD. His fame rests on what is seen as mythical journeys described as "Brendan's Voyage." This 10th Century manuscript describes how Brendan with a company of monks sailed westward into the Atlantic to "a land of promise," believed by some to be the Canary Islands and others, the coast of North America. Of the exploits described the most remarkable was their landing on the back of a sleeping whale which they thought to be an island whereupon they celebrated Pascha. With the lighting of a fire to prepare a post Liturgy banquet, the leviathan awoke causing the saint and his brothers to flee back to their boat. During his life time he established not only Clonfert but also Annadown in Gallway, Inishadoon in County Clare and Ardfert in County Kerry. The saint's emblem is a whale and his feast day is the 16 May. |
